The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is pursuing a multiyear research program that seeks to develop next-generation technologies for data storage using synthetic DNA.
The Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program intends to use manufactured DNA to build data storage platforms that can scale into 1 million terabytes while allowing organizations to reduce the physical footprint, cost and power requirements, IARPA said Friday.
“When fully realized, MIST will be a game-changer for the Intelligence Community, government, industry, and academia by significantly expanding data storage capacity while dramatically reducing the space needed, environmental impact, and expense,” said David Markowitz, MIST program manager at IARPA.
Some of the organizations selected to work on the MIST program are the Broad Institute and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory will work with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories to test the technologies that will emerge from the program.
“I’m excited about the possibilities DNA storage technology offers,” noted Markowitz.
